


Crystal Ball on the Table

by QuickedWeen



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bookstores, Boston, F/F, First Dates, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Girl Direction, Meet-Cute, Paganism, Salem, Smut, Spells & Enchantments, Wicca, Witch Harry, and it causes problems, harry has a big crush on louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 02:19:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16484216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickedWeen/pseuds/QuickedWeen
Summary: Harry Styles is just an ordinary witch from an old-fashioned Boston family trying to survive in her regular job as the fiction manager at a local bookstore and café. Her magic isn't exactly something she advertises when looking for potential new girlfriends, so when Louis Tomlinson arrives in her life like a breath of fresh air, she tries her best to hide how strongly her magic is reacting to Louis' presence.





	Crystal Ball on the Table

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii! I absolutely loved writing this for you, it was such a fun prompt!
> 
> Here I am back with some autumnal girl direction smut :)
> 
> Apologies to anyone who is Wiccan/Pagan and please please please tell me if something is inaccurate. Internet research can only go so far.
> 
> This is unbetaed, all mistakes are my own!
> 
> Title from Devil Woman by Cliff Richard.

There was a witch in the biography section, Harry could tell. This was the absolute very last thing she needed today.

On her way into work, the sky had been gray and misting in that annoying way where it really didn’t feel like much, but the water droplets just kind of sat on top of the fibers in her sweater so when she ran a hand over it, her hand came away wet.

Gross.

She hadn’t realized the abysmal in-between state of the weather until she made it all the way to the bus stop, which meant she couldn’t very well make it back to her apartment in time lest she miss the next bus. But, the app was never right and two minutes away could mean thirty seconds or it could mean fifteen minutes. It never meant two minutes.

Her mother was texting her about some appointment or other that she had made for Harry, but hadn’t bothered to check with Harry for her work schedule first, and it messed up the thumbprint reader so she had to wipe it off a few times before it actually locked her out and she gave up and then once she was in, her fingers slid sloppily across the keys in what she hoped resembled a message written in English.

There had only been one open seat left and it was next to a man who looked nice enough as she sat down, but as soon as they pulled away from the sidewalk in Central Square he spread his legs in the most obnoxious display of manspreading and turned to Harry to try and engage her in conversation. Because of the mishap with her phone and her mother, she hadn’t had the chance to put headphones in her ears, which was usually the most useful deterrent against idiots like him.

Given how her day had gone, she could only imagine that she looked like a drowned rat at best. There was no need for this sort of thing.

The bus had been slow due to the rain, so she barely managed to make it inside the front door of Neptune Books & Café before her shift started even though she had left at least twenty minutes early.

By the time she put her stuff away, made sure she was presentable, and her heart rate settled in her chest, she could feel the excess energy coming from a particular part of the store.

Harry was a witch. She had been her whole life, ever since she was born. Her mom was a witch, her older sister was a witch, all the way through the maternal genetic line back to the origins of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600’s. Harry’s family were _those_ sort of witches. The kind that became infamous during the puritanical judgment of the Salem Witch Trials, and then were written away throughout history as being borne of the fantastical thoughts of silly teenage girls.

Turned out those teenage girls weren’t so silly. Misguided? Definitely. But there were absolutely witches in Salem that survived the tumultuous time period.

Her ancestors, the Endicotts, managed to escape prosecution and went on to become one of the more powerful Boston families throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Harry’s mother had thrown off that lifestyle when she divorced Harry’s father and the whole family had disapproved of her choice.

Against her grandfather’s wishes, her grandmother let Anne move back into their big old townhouse in Beacon Hill with her two young children and everyone eventually moved on with their lives.

Harry’s mother had refused to let Harry and her sister be coddled, though. She and Gemma were taught the meaning of hard work and living independently, so now Harry lived in a small apartment in Central Square with her cat and her useless English degree. She had a job at Neptune that she usually loved, and for right now that was enough.

She still longed for a lot of things. A healthy savings account and financial security, a partner to share it with, a family. Simple things.

All of those simple things would be much easier to find if she wasn’t a witch.

For the majority of her life, she had tried to hide her magic but it only ever got in the way. As soon as her peers knew she had magic in the competitive private school she had gone to, the rumor was spread around that she had an “unfair advantage.” Eventually, it caused enough upset and mixed feelings that she had buried her magic completely by the time she got to college.

There, far away from the life she had known, no one knew she could perform spells or mix potions instead of going to CVS to get medicine when she had a cold. In college she was just any other normal girl trying to get through eight thousand pages of reading per semester and it had been so freeing.

Because her family lineage was so pure, for a variety of reasons, Harry had been told her whole life that her magic was very powerful. She didn’t know any witches aside from her mother, sister, and the other prominent families she grew up with, so she didn’t really have any true gauge.

It actually wasn’t accurate to say she didn’t know many other witches. She had definitely encountered enough of them to know that they were out there. It was probably more accurate to say that she didn’t know many others personally.

Witches could almost always sense magic wherever it was as magic left a faint trace of itself behind. Some days, Harry was much more attuned to it than normal. Like today.

She heaved a sigh as the energy from the biography section once again pulled at the back of her consciousness.

It was a rainy Sunday in Boston which meant that every single person in the city was in the cafe for brunch. Statistically, there were probably as many as five witches in the store for the sheer volume of people they had. Table wait times on the cafe side of the store were set at over an hour - the highest they ever got - and there was no way for her to identify the witch that was bothering her subconscious. Not that she wanted to at all.

Harry pulled her long curly hair - that she hadn’t managed to tame with products that morning in her rush to leave - up off her neck and twisted it into a bun, spearing the mass with a spare ballpoint pen and praying that it stayed up.

With the heat blasting and customers clogging up every available square foot of space on the first floor and the physicality of the shelving she was trying to do in the fiction section, it meant that Harry had peeled off her layers for comfort. She was left in her standard black t-shirt and black jeans both streaked with dust, hair flying everywhere, mascara smudging, sweat beading at her temples, discomfort from all of the bodies around her making her tense up.

She had definitely seen better days. Which, of course, was why the most beautiful girl Harry had ever seen with a smile like sunshine tripped over the box of stock she was emptying.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Harry cried out as she automatically reached out to steady the girl.

There was a chaotic shuffle as the girl righted herself. “It’s alright, it’s alright. I promise.”

Her voice was high and crystal clear but husky and sultry at the same time and Harry wanted to melt into a puddle of goo. Then, she turned her icy blue gaze on Harry and she was fairly certain she was going to faint dead away.

They both froze for a moment.

“Lou, there you are!” A voice called out across a few tables of tchotchke merchandise. Just as the girl turned away from Harry to respond to the voice, a middle-aged woman clearly much more intent on finding her prize than obeying the laws of common decency bumped into her sending her flying into Harry.

She was a few inches shorter than Harry so the crown of her head bumped her jaw. It didn’t cause any damage, but did rattle Harry’s head a bit and made her see stars for a second.

“Ow!” the girl cried out directly in Harry’s ear. As she recovered, Harry realized that their bodies were pressed up against each other, and she was becoming increasingly aware that she hadn’t bothered to constrict her small breasts with a bra that morning.

They untangled for the second time, and despite the warmth of the room, Harry could feel her nipples tightening. Arousal tangled in her gut and one of the books on the shelf next to them flipped over itself and fell with a loud thud onto the only open bit of floor in the whole place.

Well, she supposed this day couldn’t have gotten much worse.

Harry started to contemplate what absurd things she would need to promise her manager in order to get sent home early.

“Are you okay?” The girl asked her with concern etched across her face.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Harry choked out before bending down to pick up the book.

“I thought we were good until that book flew off the shelf,” the girl chuckled. Her expression was friendly and open, and Harry was so distracted by it she almost missed the way the girl’s eyes flicked down to where her nipples were poking through the soft cotton of her shirt. At least it was black and hid them a little bit. Not enough, though.

As was always the question for a single, lonely, woman with an instant crush, Harry wondered if the girl’s interest in her nipples was mere curiosity, or if it was something more. Interest? Attraction? Harry could only hope.

She was tired and grumpy and frazzled, she could feel the magic swirl restlessly in her fingertips, and she knew today was not the day. Harry was completely devoid of her usual patience to flirt and try to suss out whether this girl was attracted to her or not. Unfortunately, there was no way to pause life and ask for a raincheck. Thunder boomed outside sending in another wave of patrons looking to get out of the mist that had turned into a full blown storm.

A literal raincheck.

Harry sighed before pasting on her customer service smile. “Let me know if you need any help finding something.”

The girl looked at her oddly as the person calling her name managed to get around the tables and reach the bookshelves Harry was stocking.

“Our table is ready,” said the second girl who had a shock of cool toned bleach blonde hair. She grabbed the girl’s hand and pulled her away from Harry back to the front of the store.

There were too many people and Harry quickly lost them in the crowd. That was that, then.

She sighed again and went back to standing her ground against the masses.

Her gray mood persisted for the rest of the day, though it was lifted for a few moments when she watched an adorable set of young twins - a girl with red hair and a boy with blond hair - cuddled up in the children’s section trying to read a picture book back and forth between them.

Later that night she trudged home, dejected. Normally, she loved her job. Her boss gave her a lot of freedom and empowerment to improve the material good side of the store, mostly the fiction section, and she had taken ownership of it over the course of the year she had worked there. But then there were days like this where she was so tired that it felt like her magic was the only force propping her up and forcing her to keep going. She didn’t know how non-magical people did it.

As she walked from the bus stop to her apartment, she tried to decide just how tired she was and if it was even worth it to try and finish her prosperity draught she had started a few days ago. One of the ingredients needed to steep for a long time, and it could definitely keep for another night

Gemma was trying to perfect a new spell and Harry was much better at making them from scratch than she was. Gemma was a little too Type-A, she wanted there to be a recipe that she followed with precise measurements. Harry liked to experiment, listen to, and feel the ingredients as she used them to decide what needed to go into each vessel.

When they got together it was always funny to see their Books of Shadows next to each other. Gemma’s was nice, neat, in a simple black Moleskine journal, only about halfway full. Harry’s, on the other hand, had a soft brown leather cover that had scribbles all over it with little bits of notes and materials sticking out the rough edges and some suspicious stains from where she had tried to remove dried burgundy colored candle wax.

She had only seen a few of Gemma’s written out spells - a Book of Shadows was a very personal thing to a witch - but they were in a neat hand clearly drafted somewhere else. Harry’s had ink spills and cross-outs. Both were hilariously indicative of their respective personalities.

No, she didn’t think she could handle finishing the most recent spell in this state. All she could think about was collapsing in her bed with a cup of tea and her cat. She was in the mood to watch a period drama, but which one? She had seen all her favorites a million times.

She pushed her door open and her cat came running to greet her. Time to forget that this day had ever happened.

 

About a week later, Harry really had forgotten everything about that day. It had just been a blip on her radar. Everything had gone back to normal.

Until the girl came into the shop again.

Harry was on the register that was tucked under the stairs right at the entrance to the store and café. If someone was trying to come all the way inside and out of the way, it was easy to ignore the people behind the desk. Which was exactly what the girl did.

Niall and Liam were on the actual register, and Harry was just peeking out from the storage cupboard when she saw her come inside.

The girl was accompanied by the prettiest man Harry had ever seen, and her heart began to sink as she watched the hostess seat them in the cafe right across from where Harry was.

“Psst. Niall!” Harry whispered - completely unnecessary given the din in the shop at the moment.

“What’s wrong with you?” Her best friend asked, loudly.

Harry groaned and briefly covered her face with her hands.

“Shh.” Harry gestured frantically. “The hottest girl in the entire world just sat down in the cafe.”

“Oh yeah?” Niall asked. Her long braid of auburn hair whipped around so fast to see who Harry was talking about, that she only just managed to avoid it hitting her in the face.

“Niall,” Harry whisper-shouted, trying to get her to be less obvious.

“Whew,” Niall fanned herself dramatically. “You talking about that hot couple over there?”

Suddenly Harry’s heart beat frantically in her chest. “Can you see them? Do you think they’re a couple? Based on the other day, I had kind of hoped she liked girls, but if you don’t think so-”

“Calm down, Harriet.”

“Niall,” she whined.

Niall brushed her off again and went back to watching the two diners. She stayed that way for a moment casually clicking buttons on the register screen to make it look like she was staying busy and not concentrated on them. It worked, for the most part, until she panicked and ducked quickly behind the counter with a squeak.

“What happened?” Harry asked desperately.

“I think she saw me!” Niall said.

“That’s it?”

Niall looked at the top of the counter she definitely couldn’t see over. “Well, yeah.”

Harry pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Way to play it cool, babe,” she said sarcastically.

Huffy, now. Niall stood back up and defiantly looked over at the cafe. Before promptly dropping back down again.

“What now?” Harry asked.

“She looked over again, she’s definitely looking around the store for something,” Niall hissed.

“Are the two of you going to spend all day down there?” Liam asked, loudly.

Harry and Niall stared at each other for a heartbeat before, resigned, they stood up to resume their duties. Before she ducked down, Harry had already been mostly hidden, so she used that to her advantage, tucking her body under the cover of the stairs as she peered out from behind it.

Harry’s dream girl innocently sipped soda through a straw before swallowing and smiling wide, her eyes crinkling at the corners, laughing at something her companion was saying. As her laughter faded, her eyes darted towards the counter where her gaze locked with Harry’s for a split second.

Harry was so shocked that she audibly gasped and ducked back behind the stairs again, crouched awkwardly to both avoid being seen and avoid hitting her head on the treads.

After a few moments of deep, steady, calming breaths she peeked out again and saw that John, one of the waiters, was bringing them their food. Harry took advantage of their distraction to finally sneak out from behind the counter and hide at the back of the store in the fiction section. It would have been better if she could hide upstairs, but she really did have work to do.

Putting the girl and her own embarrassment out of her mind, she lost herself in the methodical task of shifting the section. She took down titles listed to be pulled and moved the books around like a giant puzzle. It worked her arms lifting things up and off the cart onto to the shelves for such extended periods of time, and it made her sore in the good sort of accomplished way. She liked how repetitive it was especially when the store was nice and quiet like it was today.

“Hello, there!” a voice said very loudly as her dream girl came into view farther down the shelf in front of her.

Harry yelped and dropped the books that were only about an inch out of place. They made a loud noise, but they weren’t nearly as loud as the half-empty cart that completely upended itself onto the carpet next to her.

“Oh, fudge,” she muttered as she squatted down to right the metal cart.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry,” the girl said as she knelt down as well. Harry was mortified, and she could feel the flaming heat on her cheeks as the girl started handing her titles in a haphazard order.

Curse her magic. The books were all out of order now, and she would have to recheck her list to see which ones were supposed to be pulled and which ones were supposed to be shelved. All because she had a little bit of a crush and couldn't control her own magic.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Harry replied. The other girl that first day had called Harry’s dream girl “Lou,” and she wondered absently if that was her name or a nickname, and if it was completely weird and creepy that she remembered it offhand.

“You’re probably traumatized by now, every time I try to say 'Hello' books attack you. Or I attack you for that matter,” the girl chattered on through Harry’s agony.

“Hah,” Harry gurgled in a weak attempt at a laugh. It was definitely Harry’s magic that was attacking her, not the girl.

They finished replacing all of the books on the cart, and the girl stood to her full height. “Then again, you probably see a million people a week, you couldn’t possibly remember that I’ve said hello before.”

Harry was concentrating on brushing herself off - even though some of the dust stains were so old and set in it felt like they had been there since the first day she wore these particular black pants - which meant she wasn’t watching what she was saying.

She reached down to brush off her knees where the denim was soft and gray and it was two seconds from splitting. “No, I remember,” she said.

She froze in her movements before snapping up, gaping at the girl like if she thought hard enough she could take back her own overeagerness and pretend she didn't hear.

The girl’s eyes lit up for a brief moment before she schooled her features. “That’s, um. That’s great.”

“Yeah,” Harry breathed out.

Silence settled awkwardly between them as they stared at each other. Harry wasn’t sure what to say without blurting out something insanely awkward like, “Please marry me and have babies with me!” or triggering her magic again. How was she to know if this girl was trying to flirt with her or not? The last thing in the world she wanted to do was make the situation even more awkward than it currently was.

The girl brought a hand up to fiddle with her feathered bangs, using her thumb to drag them across her forehead until they were placed just so. Her haircut was shorter in the back and gorgeous and so gay, but Harry still wasn’t sure that was enough evidence to justify putting herself out there like that. Women were just naturally friendly and open with other women, right? She could feel a pile of books on top of the cart drag against the fabric of her shirt as they began to levitate in a direct response to her nervousness.

Quickly, she pressed a hand down on top of them until they rested against the cool metal again. She could feel their energy fighting her, willing her to let them escape and fly around the room.

“Well… I’ll just… let you get back to it, I guess.”

“Okay,” Harry replied weakly. “Enjoy your day!” She tacked on as the girl turned to walk away.

She slapped her palm to her forehead. “Enjoy your day?” she whispered to herself. Honestly, how stupid.

Unfortunately, in lifting her hand, she let the books loose. The nerves in her stomach were still twisting allowing them to misbehave, so she shot her hand out to settle them once again. When she was sure they were securely trapped on the cart, she slumped against the shelves with a groan letting her eyes drift shut. Maybe if she tried hard enough she could teleport. Surely her magic could do that. She had never tried it before, but now she was beginning to see it’s merits.

“Listen,” the girl walked determinedly around the corner again back into the fiction section.

Harry snapped her eyes open and stood up in shock.

“This is ridiculous,” the girl said, seemingly to herself. Clearing her throat and enunciating more she looked Harry dead in the eye. “Would you like to go out with me? This week? Tomorrow?”

Harry’s eyes widened and alarm bells were going off in her head. Gay gay gay gay. The girl was gay and so mind-blowingly hot and wanted to _date her._

“Yes,” she blurted out.

Almost immediately the girl relaxed. “Great,” she said, relieved for some reason. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Harry. “Put your number in?”

Numb, Harry reached out and took the phone that was being handed to her. On the home screen was what looked to be a pile of toddler limbs and smiling faces, and Harry melted. “Aww.”

“Cute, aren’t they? They’re my siblings.” Siblings. That must have been the other girl on the first day who said her name. _Names_.

“I’m Harry by the way,” she said as she opened the phone and dialed her own number.

The girl blushed. “Right, I’m Louis.”

“Louis,” Harry said out loud as she felt her own phone vibrate in her pocket. What a cool name for such a cool girl, holy shit. “Nice to meet you.”

Louis smiled widely at her. “Yeah.”

They stared at each other, smiling like idiots for another few moments before the gorgeous Greek god of a man Louis had come to the cafe with came around the corner calling her name.

“Oh, sorry,” he said quickly before backing away not at all stealthily.

Louis shook her head. “I should go. Really this time,” she said apologetically thumbing over her shoulder at her friend.

“Right, yeah. I should…” Harry trailed off gesturing towards the books.

“Right,” Louis said again. “Text me?” she asked as she started to back away.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded, biting her lip to try and tamp down the smile threatening to take over her whole face and make her look like a “frog” or so she had been told by her older sister.

Louis was now almost bodily around the shelf barrier, but she had one hand on the wood supporting the way she was leaning still trying to talk to Harry.

“Lou, let’s go!” her friend called.

“Bye,” she said sheepishly before she finally disappeared.

It felt like the whole shop was silent as Harry’s heart beat faster than a hummingbird’s. She raised a hand to press her palm flat against it and slumped against the shelves again in disbelief.

She had a date. With her dream girl.

  


As soon as Harry finished her shift, she whipped her phone out of her pocket, almost dropping it onto the pavement of the public alley behind the shop.

 **Harry** : Hey, this is Harry

She went with a relatively basic opener.

 **Louis** : Hey :)

 **Louis** : We didn’t actually make a plan for tomorrow. Interested in anything in particular?

Boston was huge, she didn’t even know where Louis lived, the sheer amount of options she was facing was a tad bit overwhelming. Harry’s magic was always a little bit difficult to control in public, high-pressure environments like a first date. She wanted to make a good impression, but she had very few impressive skills.

 **Harry** : I could cook?

Oh, God, she was basically inviting herself over to Louis’ apartment. That was so weird.

 **Louis** : That would be amazing :)

 **Louis** : My place or yours?

Harry didn’t want to make it any weirder.

 **Harry** : Mine okay?

 **Louis** : Sure, where do you live?

 **Harry** : Central. Tomorrow at 7?

 **Louis** : Sounds good :)

 **Harry** : See ya then xx

Harry clicked her phone shut quickly before she gave in to the urge to text Louis constantly for the next twenty-four hours. She needed to play it cool. Or at least cooler than she had been so far.

She couldn’t believe she had invited Louis over to her apartment. Thank God tomorrow was her day off, she would need all day to clean her place and get everything ready.

Her text conversation with Louis successfully distracted her from her wait for the bus and subsequent ride up a very damp Mass Ave that sparkled in the street lights, and her commute home had never been so quick.

That night she went to bed with a huge smile on her face and a sigh as she thought about everything she had ahead of her the next day.

 

Harry was frazzled.

The day was not going as planned. Her cat had thrown up her breakfast, the grocery store had taken longer than she had expected because she couldn’t decide what she wanted to make. What she landed on - vaguely Asian inspired chicken thighs that she could throw in the oven and forget about - really needed twenty-four hours to marinate, but she didn’t have twenty-four hours, she had seven so she would need to use magic while preparing the food, which was always risky.

When she pushed in the front door, she threw her bags down in the general direction of the refrigerator and went to check on her cat to make sure she was feeling better. She was fine, of course, but Harry still wanted to look over her one more time and check to make sure her nose wasn’t too warm.

Assuaged in her worry, she washed her hands and set to work mixing up the marinade for the chicken. Once it was all spread out in the dish, Harry dug her fingers into the mixture, making sure she was touching all of the pieces and some of the marinade. She took deep breaths and concentrated on feeling the super chilly liquid as it sloshed around in the dish. Deep in her mind, she focused on each piece of chicken one by one, pulling the liquid up through it almost like she was sucking through a straw.

Her concentration slipped as she recoiled and laughed at the thought about drinking raw chicken with a straw. She shook it off and refocused finishing each piece of meat. After she got it started, she would let them marinate the natural way for the rest of the day until it was time to put them in the oven.

That done, she washed her hands once again and put her hands on her hips to survey her kitchen, which made up the majority of her apartment if she was being honest. She just needed to clean, hide all her witchy stuff in her bedroom, shower, get ready, and make a brilliant meal so that no matter how weird she got Louis would see that she was actually an okay person underneath it all and then marry her and then they could have babies. Easy peasy.

Harry blew out a breath and leaned back against her counter trying to will her anxiety away. Funny how magic never seemed to have a solution for that.

 

Five hours later, the apartment was clean, Harry was showered, dressed, had thrown on a little bit of makeup, and the chicken was bubbling away in the oven.

The shower had been her downfall. While she was in there, she realized all of the things she hadn’t bothered to ask Louis - especially if she was a vegetarian or not. As she thought back, she vaguely remembered Louis ordering a chicken sandwich at the cafe, but she had been trying so hard to avoid looking at her, she couldn’t remember clearly. She also hadn’t asked if she was allergic to cats or anything. Hopefully, if she was, the apartment was clean enough that they could find somewhere to sit that wouldn’t be too bad.

Seven o’clock hit and there was a buzz from Harry’s doorbell almost immediately. She ran towards it before taking a moment to calm herself down.

She unbolted her door and calmly descended the staircase to the street level where she could just barely see Louis standing on the porch through the blinds on the window.

When she whipped the door open all of her nerves melted away. Louis was leaning up against her railing wearing a patterned button-up shirt and black skinny jeans that showed off her slim, athletic build. Harry would need to figure out how to discreetly pinch herself to make sure this was real. Surely, a girl as hot as this had people lining up down the block to take her out.

“Hiya, Curly,” Louis said, reaching up to tug on one of the curls that had tightened up and escaped where she had loosely clipped her hair back.

Just the implication of that little tug had Harry blushing. “Hi, come on in,” she said stepping aside so Louis could enter the front foyer.

The space was a tight squeeze, and Harry could feel the warmth of Louis’ body teasing her, taunting her.

“Go ahead up, it’s the door just on the next landing,” she managed to rasp out. She immediately realized her mistake, though, when Louis’ gorgeous ass was in her face the entire climb up the stairs. For all that she looked slim and athletic from the front, her curves were absolutely devastating from behind.

Harry had miscalculated in dressing for the evening. She hadn’t worn a bra - she usually didn’t - and her ribbed sweater dress was low cut in back, showing just the right amount of skin for a first date, but the fabric was rubbing back and forth across her very sensitive nipples and once again she found herself overly… excited… in Louis’ presence.

Maybe if she willed them hard enough, they would get softer. And maybe pigs would fly during dessert.

“Thanks for doing this, Harry, I’ve never had someone cook for me on a date before,” Louis said as they reached her front door.

“Not a problem,” Harry replied. “I love to do it, and we don’t have to deal with all of the pressures of a restaurant and such.”

They pushed into her apartment and she closed the door behind them.

“That was my thought, too,” Louis said as she looked around, grinning as her gaze made its way back to Harry. “Restaurants are so stuffy, and you can only be there for a certain amount of time, and then it’s weird to decide if you want to continue the date or not…” she trailed off.

“Definitely,” Harry nodded in agreement. Suddenly, she saw a flash of ginger fur. “Oh! I’m so sorry I forgot to ask this before, but are cats okay? Also, are you a vegetarian?”

Some of her nervousness must have bled through a bit because Louis’ gaze softened. “Cats are fine, and no I am definitely not.”

Harry’s shoulders relaxed a bit in relief. “Perfect. Then we’re having roast chicken thighs and rice.” Just as she mentioned it, the rice began to bubble indicating that she should turn it down as it finished cooking. The chicken was already out of the oven and resting, wafting lovely smells of soy sauce and ginger into the air. “As soon as the rice is done, we’ll be able to eat!”

She faced the stove to turn the knob all the way down and let the rice simmer, only vaguely hearing when Louis let out a strangled noise behind her.

When she turned back around, Louis was eyeing her hungrily.

“So,” Louis started, drawing out the syllable as she moved closer to where Harry was leaning against the counter. “Because we’re not in a restaurant…” she continued to inch towards Harry until her bum was fully pressed against the counter and they were standing a hair's breadth away from each other. “Is it alright if I kiss you?”

Harry nodded vigorously as Louis closed the distance between them and pressed their lips together. Her mouth was soft and luscious and Harry could barely get enough of it. Louis’ tongue pressed against the seam of her lips, and Harry could taste the vague hint of mintiness as though Louis had brushed her teeth right before she left her place.

A kiss on the first date like this usually had such high expectations placed on it. It only happened at the end of the date to say goodnight, but only if the date went well, and Harry was usually so nervous about The Kiss that she would spend the whole night worrying about it instead of letting herself enjoy the date and live in the moment.

Louis’ confidence in asking to kiss her so early on in the evening was beyond attractive to Harry. The longer they kissed the more the twisty nerves in her stomach released and became butterflies. She shifted so that she was sitting into her body a bit more and her feet slid out to widen and make room as Louis’ leg moved between her own.

At the start of the kiss, Louis’ hands stayed politely on Harry’s waist, but they began to roam towards the low cut back of her dress. Soon, Harry felt the delicious heat of her skin as her fingers breached the fabric barrier and caressed her back.

That was when she heard the first hiss of boiling water hit the gas burner which was the only warning before the lid flew off the pot where the rice was supposed to be simmering.

Harry gasped into Louis’ mouth, and Louis jumped back letting go of her. Harry lunged quickly to salvage the rice, turning the heat all the way off. She stayed facing away from Louis as she tried to get her flaming cheeks.

“Whoops,” Louis giggled.

Harry let a giggle loose, and then another, before turning back around and facing Louis. Pretty soon both of them were breaking down into a fit of hysterical laughter.

As they calmed down, Harry put a hand to her stomach, partly because her abs were sore now, but also to calm the butterflies that had returned.

“That was… wow,” she said. Her magic had almost given itself away. She needed to make sure all future kissing was kept to a minimum when there were more… reactive things around.

“Yeah, wow.” Louis laughed, then wiped the back of her hand across her mouth as her gaze flicked down to Harry’s lips again. It was the sexiest thing anyone had ever done in her presence before, and the arousal that had already begun to pool in her belly throbbed as it continued its journey down her torso.

She was not going to sleep with Louis tonight. She wasn’t. There was no way she was ever going to be able to control her magic if they slept together based on their history so far, and there was no way she could tell Louis about her magic in fear of scaring away the most amazing person to ever ask her out.

The glass lid clanked against the rim of the pot again half-heartedly before Harry slapped her hand down on it and turned the heat on again so the rice could finish cooking.

“This should just be another minute or so and then we can eat,” she said infusing her voice with extra cheeriness to try and smooth over the weird happenings in her kitchen. She hoped Louis wouldn’t lean in to kiss her again, because she really didn’t think she would be able to say no.

Thankfully, she didn’t, she just moved in close to Harry’s body to peer over her shoulder at the offerings on the stove.

“It smells amazing, Harry,” Louis said with genuine awe in her voice. The chicken was glistening in its syrupy sauce, the rice was almost done - Harry eyed the burner warily - and the roasted asparagus was a beautiful vibrant green color.

As they stood there, taking in the bounty, Louis moved shifted a tiny bit closer and brought her hand up to rub along Harry’s back. Her bare back.

Harry’s knees buckled, and the steam from the rice doubled in volume, so she leaned against the counter to steady herself and grabbed a fork to toss it and see if it was ready. Purely as a form of distraction so that she could keep Louis’ hand on her without blowing up the whole house.

“Will you-” her voice cracked. “Will you get the plates?” She managed to get out.

“Sure!” Louis replied as she grabbed the china off Harry’s small dining table. She handed them off to Harry to load up with dinner.

As Harry was plating, she heard Louis begin to roam around her kitchen. She tensed up for a moment as Louis neared her pantry because she hadn’t bothered to clean it out of all of her supplies. Oils and herbs were totally normal for someone like her to have in this day and age, weren’t they? She could just play it off as being an earthy-crunchy hippie.

The alter with her crystals and spell jars and Book of Shadows in her bedroom was a lot harder to explain away.

“I’ve got wine in the fridge if you’d like to open it?” Harry asked, hoping to distract Louis before she asked too many questions.

Louis agreed and all of a sudden Harry was watching her maneuver a corkscrew with her gorgeous, strong, capable hands. Again, she had miscalculated.

The plates slipped a little in her hands, but she managed to right them and put them down on the table before she could cause any more damage.

The candles were lit.

Harry didn’t light them. At least not consciously.

There was no telling when they had spontaneously lit so she cleared her throat and hoped Louis wouldn’t notice.

Once they were both seated across from each other with considerably more distance between them, it was a lot easier to handle how overwhelmed she was by Louis’ presence. She was beautiful and loud but reserved at the same time. Her eyes sparkled in the candlelight and she was boisterous but softened around the edges like melted butter when she talked about her six younger siblings and growing up at home with her mom.

Harry learned that she was on the social media team for the Celtics, and absolutely adored her job, and that she grew up in the area and went to UMass Boston so she could get a break on tuition and stay home to help her mom raise her siblings.

In short, Harry was in love.

She had been too nervous to do anything before this date in terms of preparation (despite itching to do a tarot card reading on herself), though she did “accidentally” unearth an old spell jar that she had put together once in college when she was lonely that was meant for prosperity in relationships.

Conversation and wine flowed easily, and she was more into Louis than she had ever been into anyone else in her life, but beneath it all she was scared. So many times she got tripped up because she almost let slip about her magic or super pagan things. Even her all-black outfit that night with black leather boots had been a little bang-on, which she didn’t realize until Louis had complimented her on her “witchy” look.

Harry’s heart had almost fallen out of her ass at that.

She survived the rest of the evening but only just. Louis was a very tactile person, toying with Harry’s fingers across the table, brushing her arm this way and that as they moved around each other. Harry could feel her magic buzz through her veins as the night wore on until Louis was standing in the frame of her front door to say goodnight.

They hadn’t kissed again since the debacle during dinner prep, and this time Louis leaned up a bit more tentatively. Once Harry gave the green light, though, it was slow and sensual weighed down by the warm, cozy atmosphere and the wine. Louis licked into Harry’s mouth again, and this time all Harry tasted was her heady flavor seasoned by the ginger molasses cookies they had eaten.

The stove was turned off, so she could relax into the kiss, letting Louis tentatively dip her hand into the back neckline of her dress the same way she had before dinner. Harry was a little tense listening out for a gas explosion, but as more time passed and nothing happened she forgot about all of that.

When she and Louis finally managed to separate from each other, she watched as Louis descended the stairs, and listened for the ground floor front door.

The picture of a cliche, Harry closed her door and leaned back against it with a sigh. She needed to clean up and do all of the dishes and plan their wedding, but first, she needed a bath.

Anytime Harry got off, her magic was always safer and more contained when she was in the bath or the bath - the water acted as some sort of conduit for her magic. After Louis had gotten her so hot and bothered by teasing her all night and kissing her, and generally existing… Harry definitely needed a bath.

She made her way towards the back of her apartment as her magic danced in her veins aching for a way out. Louis had even made Harry’s _magic_ horny and it was so restless, she could practically hear it buzzing.

Harry opened up the door to her bathroom and froze when a puff of steam hit her face.

The showerhead was already pounding away at the floor of the tub. The buzzing hadn’t been her magic, or it had been, but in a roundabout way. During that last kiss with Louis, when Harry thought she was disaster-free, her magic clearly knew what her plan was for her post-date agenda.

“Thanks, I guess?” she said out loud to the boiling water as it hit the porcelain of the bathtub and she reached her hand in to plug it up and switch it from the showerhead to the tub faucet.

Her cat chirped at her, and Harry very gently pushed her out of the room before she stripped off her dress and leggings so she could climb in the scalding water.

As soon as she was submerged, some of the restlessness in her veins settled into a warm throb, leaving just the arousal in its wake.

Her water bill was going to get very, very expensive if she kept dating Louis without sleeping with her.

  


Three weeks later, Harry was dying. Louis’ soft, curvy body was pressed up against hers in the crowded Red Line train as they made their way to Harry’s apartment. They were wrapped up in each other in the middle of the car because Harry could reach the handhold with her long arms, and everyone was so tightly packed that Louis clung to her instead of trying to free float in the mass of bodies. Her head was on Harry’s shoulder, her face was tucked into Harry’s neck, and she could feel hot breath on the sensitive skin there, and it was making her tingly all over.

Death probably would have been kinder if Harry thought about it.

On the one hand, she was on cloud nine. She and Louis were practically inseparable, they had gone on countless dates, texted all day, and she had never been happier in a relationship in her entire life.

She was also hornier than she had ever been in her life but she was still afraid that if she slept with Louis, she wouldn’t be able to hide the uncontrollable force that was her magic.

Louis was amazing, she was letting Harry guide the pace of their physical relationship, and hadn’t pushed anything at all.

They reached Kendall and someone jostled Louis in their haste to get off the train, pushing her closer into Harry. Louis absorbed the force and nestled closer into Harry’s arms, absentmindedly pressing a kiss to the spot on her neck where she had been breathing a moment before.

If Harry didn’t get her mouth on her in the next five minutes she was going to _die_ of sexual frustration. Genuinely.

But she didn’t want to scare her away, so she grit her teeth, and tried not to tense her muscles too much.

The cool, crisp autumn air when they got above ground was bliss. They stopped in H-Mart and got a few groceries for dinner including an extra bag of frozen dumplings because they were Louis’ favorite.

Everything was going well, they were in the kitchen and Louis was pretending to help her make whipped cream, which really just meant sitting on the counter with her beautiful thighs just out there, on display, for Harry to dream about diving between.

She had it under control.

“Harriet, what’s the Samhain Ball?” Louis asked, innocently.

The hand mixer Harry was using jumped and sprayed half-whipped cream everywhere.

“What?” she gaped. “Where did you hear about that?”

The Samhain Ball was a tradition where all of the old money Boston families - like Harry’s - would get together as an excuse to dress up and drink and party. It started back in the nineteenth century as a way for the families of the old witches to get together and celebrate the pagan holiday discreetly while showing off their immense wealth.

These days, it was a lot less strict, but it was still something that Harry’s whole family - and all the families she grew up around - attended every year. They also didn’t need to be discreet about their magic anymore, which meant a big event where no one was shy about talking about the old traditions or celebrating the pinnacle of pagan holidays.

Harry hated it, but it was important to her mother and grandmother.

Louis eyed her carefully like she was afraid Harry was going to fly off the handle. “It’s on the fridge?” she said carefully.

Harry’s gaze flew to the front of her refrigerator. Gemma. Harry’s sister had placed it on the front of Harry’s fridge last time she was over because she wanted to make sure Harry wouldn’t forget about it.

She gaped at the innocuous piece of paper and tried very very hard not to force it to burst into flames. Turning back to the whipped cream, she carefully poised the hand mixer as though she was about to start them up again.

“It’s a big fancy dinner. On Halloween. It happens every year,” she said before flipping the switch and concentrating on the big bowl of cream.

Harry could feel Louis staring at her while she finished whipping it up, the gears turning in her head were practically audible.

As soon as Harry was finished, she turned the mixer off, and the absence of their loud whirring left a tension in the air as the room settled back into silence.

She should have known Louis would never leave it alone.

“A big fancy dinner like… the sort of thing you would bring a date to?” Louis asked.

Harry closed her eyes as her heart sank. This was exactly what she had been afraid of with the ball. She absolutely wanted Louis to be her date to any event in the entire world, she would find a way to take her to the fucking Oscars as long as she didn’t have to bring her to the Samhain Ball.

But as she met Louis’ gaze, she could tell this was going to be a Thing. “I mean, I guess,” Harry shrugged.

 _Coward_ , she chastised herself.

There was a beat of silence, and then another. Harry could feel Louis’ defensiveness and hurt as it began leaking into the air around them.

Louis shook her head like she had decided something definitive. “Do you not want to bring me or something?”

There it was.

Harry calmly walked over to settle herself between Louis’ legs where they were splayed on the counter and picked up her hands where she was fiddling with them in her lap.

“Um…” Harry drew out, not sure how to say what she wanted to say. “No?”

Louis recoiled and tried to pull her hands away, but Harry held onto them. “No, no. Lou. Look,” she took a deep breath. “It’s stupid with a whole bunch of rich people dressing up for no reason.”

“But you’re going?” Louis asked, her hurt becoming more and more evident in her voice. “Am I not good enough for the fancy rich people ball?”

Harry choked on air. “God, no! That’s not it at all. If anything you’re too good. So much better than them. More interesting, that’s for sure.”

Louis had stopped trying to pull away but she was still sitting rigidly on the counter.

“This is just… My family is going to be there, and we’ve only been dating a few weeks, and that’s a big step,” Harry added, grasping at straws at that point, which was idiotic, because she had already ranted at length to Louis about how she wanted her to meet both Gemma and her mom.

Louis was eerily quiet. “I mean, I’m there. I thought you were too. Are you not?”

Harry’s grip on Louis’ hands tightened. Even while she was in the midst of this very shitty situation, her heart soared at the possibility of Louis thinking of their relationship in such a serious way. She couldn’t help it, she cupped Louis’ face in her hands and drew her into a reluctant kiss.

“I am, I’m sorry I made you doubt that,” she whispered. “I just freaked out for a second.”

Louis nodded tentatively.

“Will you come with me to this stupid ball next week?” Harry asked.

Louis nodded again before leaning in for another kiss, a deeper one this time. Harry pressed as close as she possibly could until Louis’ thighs were locked around her and the counter was awkwardly digging into her pelvis.

Louis’ devastating hands began roaming and soon she was dragging the tip of a finger down the open vee of Harry’s blouse until she had hooked it inside and was tracing around the outer edge of Harry’s bra.

The hand mixer jumped to life where it was resting next to the bowl of whipped cream, spraying its remnants around the kitchen again as though it hadn’t done enough damage the first time.

“Whoopsies,” Harry said untangling herself and going to turn it off.

She and Louis got control of themselves and settled down with their apple pie and whipped cream, burrowing into Harry’s couch to watch Hocus Pocus. When they were done with their pie, Louis opened her arms, and Harry gladly crawled into them for the rest of the movie, happiest when Louis was cuddling her like this.

When the final credits began to roll, Louis turned the volume down on the television. “Just how nice is this party, then?” she asked.

“Black tie,” Harry replied automatically. “Will that be alright?”

Louis nodded and leaned over to kiss her nose. “Fine,” she said with a small smile.

Harry was suddenly assaulted by images of Louis in a dress. She had never seen her wear anything like that before, and she was absolutely sure Louis could rock a ball gown - she could rock anything - she just didn’t really seem the type to want to as she much preferred more neutral, somewhat androgynous clothing.

 

The next morning she called her mom right away to tell her Louis was coming.

“You can’t talk about how we’re witches,” she blurted out desperately.

There was silence on the other end.

“Harry. It’s the Samhain Ball,” her mother said in a much more gentle tone that she deserved. She waited a few more moments before asking the obvious question. “Does Louis not know you’re a witch?”

“No,” Harry groaned.

“Oh, honey. If you’re this serious about her, you’ve got to tell her.”

Harry sighed heavily before changing the subject in the least subtle way possible. Maybe Gemma would help her.

Gemma was worse.

When Harry said the same thing she had said to their mother about not mentioning they were witches, Gemma started hysterically laughing.

“It’s the Samhain Ball, idiot,” she said through her heaving laughter.

“Gemmaaaaa,” she whined. “What do I do?”

“Talk to your girlfriend,” she said before hanging up.

 _Girlfriend_. Harry’s heart gave a little flutter.

She was clinging to her last shreds of hope that she would manage to escape the evening without Louis figuring out that she was a witch, so in the meantime, she was going to pick out a dress that would make her look hot enough that Louis wouldn’t notice.

As far as strategies went it wasn’t the best she had ever had, but it was something.

 

Halloween - the day of the ball - dawned gray and cloudy because it was autumn in New England. Absently, Harry wondered if it would stay nice enough for the trick or treaters that evening.

She had asked for the early shift, so when she was done she scurried home as fast as she could so she could shower and get ready. In the shower, she scrubbed the grime off, and made the game-time decision to get off as well before she went downtown to the hotel where the ball was being held. She could never be too careful around Louis.

There was also going to be an excess of magic that evening partly because it was Samhain when the fabric between worlds was weaker, and partly because there would be so many witches in attendance. Almost every person there would be a witch. Except for Louis. Harry was dragging her straight into the lion’s den.

Harry was tingly all over from her orgasm as she stepped out of the shower on wobbly legs.

The longer this went on, the more she craved Louis. All she had to do was let her mind wander to Louis while she was at work, on the bus, the dentist’s office, and she could feel the effect it had on her body.

Her dress tonight wasn’t going to help. The body of the dress was crimson silk, and it hugged her curves just so all the way to the floor. Tall and gangly as she was, it actually managed to give her a shape where she didn’t normally have one. The back was almost completely open and low cut, the way she knew Louis liked.

In distracting Louis, she was only making it worse for herself.

She sighed and very carefully climbed into the Uber to go downtown. Louis was going to meet her there after going back to her own apartment to get ready.

Harry entered the hotel and made her way to the function room by rote. She had done this a million times before, well before she could legally drink. She gave her name to the nice woman at check-in and stepped into the ballroom.

There was an old-world elegance to the ballroom, she had to admit. It was all dark velvet and gold furnishings. There were tables set up along the mezzanine level for people to sit down if they wished, and the main level was the dance floor as well as the bar stations.

Harry quickly grabbed a glass of red wine before searching the crowd for either her family or Louis.

Gemma, their mother, and their grandmother were clumped in a corner of the room speaking to a male witch Harry vaguely recognized as being another regular attendee of these sorts of events.

Her mother’s face lit up as she approached. “Harry, you look beautiful. Is Louis here yet?”

Harry rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “I’m fine, mom, how are you?”

Anne ignored her sass and went back to her conversation.

Gemma gaped at something over Harry’s shoulder. “Hey, Harry, if that’s not Louis, I have absolutely found your next girlfriend.”

Harry whipped around to face the doors and almost fainted.

Louis was standing just inside the entrance and she looked incredible. She was wearing a tuxedo, but it was a tuxedo that had been perfectly tailored to her body. The pants were tight, showing off her hips and the natural dip of her waist, which was clearly on display because her jacket was a _tailcoat_. A tailcoat cropped high in the front right at the top of the pants, and the tails dipped back behind her hitting her right around the knee.

Her dress shirt was crisp and white and her silk black tie glistened under the chandelier like it had a bit of sparkle to it.

Harry thought it looked amazing. But she also wanted it off.

Honestly with her history these past few weeks, she was lucky her own dress hadn’t just spontaneously torn itself to shreds on the sight of her.

Louis spotted her and crossed the still empty parquet dance floor to get to Harry. Her pants were smartly cropped short to show off her ankles above a pair of black patent leather oxfords.

“Wow, you look amazing, Harry,” she said with stars in her eyes.

Harry made a strangled noise that definitely didn't resemble English.

Immediately a look of concern crossed Louis' face. “Harry, is everything alright?”

“She fine, I just think you've killed her,” Gemma quipped. “Since she's in a state - Hi, I'm Gemma.”

“Nice to meet you, I'm Louis,” she replied. “Killed her?”

“Have you looked in a mirror?” Gemma scoffed.

That finally snapped Harry out of her trance. “Gemma,” she hissed. Gemma snickered into her wine glass.

“Do you like it? It's not too much?” Louis asked smoothing her hands down the front of the silky coat.

“No,” she replied weakly, her mouth suddenly the Sahara desert.

Anne realized who they were talking to and butt into introduce herself. She was immediately charmed by Louis, of course, anyone would be especially given that Louis was actively trying to charm her.

Eventually, Harry realized Louis hadn't even had a drink yet, and she selfishly wanted a minute alone with her.

Louis curled their hands together as they strode across the still empty dance floor. As the night wore on and people got drunker it would begin to fill up, but for now people were congregating on the outskirts of the room.

They approached the end of the line for the bar station and Louis tilted her neck back to take in the whole ballroom.

“This party happens every year?” she asked as she checked out the mezzanine level.

“Yep,” Harry replied as she moved them forward in line.

“I can't even imagine having something like this as a young witch. I would have gotten into so much trouble messing with the stuffy suits,” she said nodding to a group of old white men in the corner that were too rich for their own good. “I was such a hellraiser.”

Harry chuckled. “I bet you were.”

It hit her then what Louis had said like she had been body slammed.

“What?” she gasped. “Witch?”

Louis scrunched her nose up at Harry. “I mean I didn’t have anything as nice as this, but we got by.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry was gripping Louis’ arm now.

“I’m a witch? Harry, I thought you knew that seeing as you are too,” she said pointing her finger at her.

White noise buzzed through Harry’s brain.

Louis knew she was a witch. Louis was a witch herself.

The thoughts kept repeating themselves over and over again, and Harry had no idea what Louis was saying.

Suddenly, one thought cut through all the rest. It wasn’t the most appropriate thought, but Harry was a desperate woman.

She grabbed Louis’ hand and started dragging her through the room. “Let’s go,” she said.

“Go? Harry! I wanted a drink. Where are we going?” Louis waved to Harry’s family as Harry was still trying to take her away.

“This is a nice hotel, I think I have my credit card somewhere. I can definitely manage enough for a room for a night. It might not be a very nice room, but it’ll be something,” Harry mumbled to herself.

Louis stopped in the middle of the plush, carpeted hallway. “Harry, wait!” she cried, bracing herself so that Harry would stop her forward movement.

They could do it here, Harry supposed, the carpet was nice and soft. There might be a few too many onlookers for her liking, but she could make it work if Louis was into it.

She curled herself into Louis’ body and gave her a very thorough kiss hello, something she hadn’t wanted to do earlier while her mom and sister were watching.

As her desperation continued to mount, she bent down to nibble at the exposed skin between Louis’ ear and the collar of her shirt and tuxedo jacket. Harry really liked this jacket.

“Harry, honey, stop for a second,” Louis pleaded with her.

She did, but only just.

“I already - Look, I realize you wanted to go slow, and I would never pressure you, and I’m so sorry I wasn’t going to say anything if you didn’t think-” Louis was pacing back and forth out of nervousness. “God, this feels like what prom should have been.”

“Prom?” Harry asked.

Louis stopped in her pacing and took a deep breath. “I got us a room upstairs already.”

A thrill zipped through Harry hitting all of her erogenous zones at once. They already had a room.

“Well, what are we waiting for then?” she asked as she grabbed Louis’ hand and started dragging her through the hotel again. “What’s the room number?”

“Um… 823?” Louis said as she dug for the key in her jacket pocket.

Harry jammed the button for the elevator and by some small miracle, the doors popped open. She jammed the button for the eighth floor just as hard before she rounded on Louis pressing her against the wall of the elevator.

“Thank you, I can’t believe you already got us a room,” Harry breathed as she let her hands roam under the fabric of Louis’ jacket.

“Of course, baby,” she said drawing Harry in for a kiss before bodily separating them. “But let me get this straight. You didn’t know I was a witch?”

Harry shook her head sheepishly.

“But now you want to sleep with me? I’m confused.”

Harry sighed and pressed her face into Louis’ neck out of embarrassment.  “I thought for sure my being a witch was going to scare you off. Magic and stuff… it’s a lot to take. There were so many times that my magic acted up just from kissing you, hell just from being around you, that I tried to hide it from you. God, if you knew how difficult it was… Anyway. I was worried about you finding out I was a witch because when I, you know, get off, I can’t control it.”

The elevator dinged, and this time Louis was the one who dragged Harry out of it. They stood in the hallway facing each other as the doors closed and headed back down to the lobby.

Louis reached a hand up to cup her cheek, and Harry lost herself in the sensation of Louis rubbing the pad of her thumb across her cheekbone.

“You thought I didn’t notice those?” Louis giggled.

Harry’s eyes snapped open. “What do you mean?”

“Harry, when I asked you out that day, the books were literally levitating off your cart.”

“Oh.” Right, she had forgotten about that one.

Louis grinned at her as she took her hand again and led her down the hallway to the room. Harry was still a bit dazed as Louis dug the key out again and opened the door.

The room was modest, especially for the fancy hotel they were in, but it was still much nicer than the smaller basic room Harry would have had to get.

“Lou,” she breathed. “This is lovely.” There were dipped strawberries waiting for them on a platter in the middle of the bed, and a bouquet of flowers next to the bed.

Moved beyond words at the care and patience Louis had shown with her, and frankly, at the end of her rope, she gripped her girlfriend by the lapels of her tailcoat and shoved her down on the bed.

“Harry!” Louis cried out as she bounced on the firm mattress.

Harry reached down and kicked off her heels first before rolling down her stockings - the right leg then the left. As she released each one, she tossed them at Louis on the bed. The shock in her gaze had been replaced by a deep, simmering heat.

When she was done, Harry turned around and reached one hand up to release her dress on each side the same way, letting it skim down her body and slither to the floor.

“Harry,” Louis moaned, as she saw what exactly Harry _wasn’t_ wearing under her dress. “Come here,” she begged.

Harry acquiesced, stalking as gracefully as she could towards the bed until she could climb up to straddle Louis’ thighs.

She bent down to where Louis had propped herself up on her elbows, watching the show, still in her amazing tuxedo. Harry planted a soft kiss on her lips before lifting up and perching fully on her thighs.

“Hi,” she grinned.

Louis shook her head at Harry’s antics. “You look quite proud of yourself up there,” she teased.

Playing along, Harry fluffed her curls up in put-upon vanity before throwing it over her shoulder. “I am,” she replied.

Louis took her playful tone as the invitation to touch that it was. She always loved to trail her hands over Harry’s body when she was clothed, and now she was gentle and reverent as she learned new versions of their memorized trails.

Harry threw her head back in pleasure and leaned into the touch when Louis paused to flick her nipples lightly.

“Louis, get naked,” she moaned.

“If I do, you’ll have to move, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.”

Harry laughed along and climbed off Louis’ lap, pawing at the buttons on her dress shirt, arguably doing more harm than good.

Eventually, Louis managed to undress completely and it was her turn to stand at the end of the bed so Harry could admire her. Harry had waited long enough.

She let Louis guide her fully up the bed until they were both tangled together and Harry flipped them so Louis was on her back. She pressed kisses to Louis’ sternum, before following her journey down her torso to her ultimate destination.

Harry couldn’t help but nuzzle the light happy trail and soft thatch of hair, inhaling the heady scent of Louis. She could smell her arousal and brought her hands up to pry Louis’ legs apart.

“Har- Harry, I can take care of you first,” Louis choked out, even as Harry had already begun stroking the soft skin of her inner thighs. There was a scar at the top of her left thigh that Harry wanted to learn about. Some other day, maybe. She was busy right now.

She pressed her palms flat against Louis’ hips to hold them to the bed before looking up at Louis between her legs.

“I appreciate you and your dedication to my pleasure, but if you interrupt me from eating you out one more time, I will pitch a fit,” she said matter of factly.

Louis laughed on a huff before letting herself collapse back on the bed.

Finally, Harry was face to face with Louis’ pussy and it was absolutely gorgeous. Pink and glistening, and Harry wanted, needed to taste it.

She drew her forefinger across her outer lips a few times first, teasing, before pressing Louis’ legs open even farther and using her tongue to trace the same path.

Harry could feel Louis keen at the first pass of her tongue. On the next pass, she put a little more pressure behind it, dipping further into her pussy, letting it go a bit deeper into her opening. She continued to tease her back and forth, alternating the pressure, until Louis’ thighs began to shake and her hand reached down to tangle in Harry’s hair.

She was making breathy little noises that were like music to Harry’s ears, and her thighs kept jerking and jumping like they were out of her control. As it turned out, Harry _loved_ reducing Louis to a whimpering cry, it felt empowering and sexy. Her own thighs were absolutely soaked as well.

Louis’ taste was musky and beautiful and completely addictive. Still avoiding her clit, Harry started lapping more forcefully, teasing a finger at her opening in tandem with her tongue, before pressing in slowly.

Louis cried out before tightening her grip in Harry’s hair and using it to lift her head off of her pussy. Harry could feel the tight tug at her scalp and it practically made her eyes roll back in her head from the acute pain and pleasure of it all.

“Flip,” Louis choked out. “Flip around.”

Harry understood what she meant, and used what little force in her muscles she had left to turn her body around so that she was hovering above Louis and her knees were bracketing Louis’ head.

Louis gave her bum a light little smack, presumably to say she was in place, so Harry immediately set herself back to her task. This time, she didn’t wait, she didn’t tease, she went straight for Louis’ clit, putting pressure on it this way and that with her tongue.

Harry could feel the vibrations of Louis’ muffled scream in her own pussy and the feeling zapped any strength she had left. Her upper body collapsed, and all she knew was Louis’ taste and her smell, and her building orgasm that Harry could feel from the inside out.

Vaguely, she could feel Louis’ tongue manipulating her own clit as the pressure built up in her body. Harry added a second finger, using them to provide the friction she would need to push Louis over the edge.

Just as Louis’ walls started clenching so hard around Harry’s fingers that she forced them out, Harry felt Louis’ tongue scrape across her clit just so and it sent her own orgasm screaming through her body so hard that she saw stars behind her eyelids.

Harry was pretty sure she passed out from the force of her orgasm because when she came to, she was right side up in bed and the lights were off.

“Louis?” she groaned.

She felt lips press against her forehead. “Right here, love, just getting the covers out,” she whispered as Harry felt the blankets dragging up over her body.

“What?”

“Shh, we’ll talk in the morning,” Louis said before drawing Harry closer into her body and throwing a possessive hand over her waist.

Harry was sated for the first time in a month, and she wasn’t sure she could ever be warmer or cozier. Her eyes drifted closed and it wasn’t long until oblivion.

 

In the morning when Harry woke up to order room service, there was a note tucked under the door.

 

_Dear Guests,_

_We are aware of the power outage on the eighth floor last night around 9 pm, and we’re doing everything in our power to rectify the situation. It appears to have been temporary, but please inform the front desk if you experience any further issues._

_We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused._

_Thank you,_

_Park Plaza Hotel_


End file.
